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Dear protector of Sanatan dharma and ISKCON’s well-wisher family,

Hare Krishna!! First, I’d like to thank you from my heart for your support over the years towards “ISKCON”! Please accept, New Year’s Greetings and the blessings of Lord Krishna to you and your family.
On Makar Sankranti (January 14) every year, lakhs of people take a holy dip at Gangasagar, where the river Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal, and offer prayers at Mother Ganga and Lord Kapil Muni. The Gangasagar Mela is the most popula

How can one define the concept of family?

To me it’s a framework of two strong pillars

Of ideal role models who are complementary

And who function as life’s wisdom fillers

Moreover, I think it’s a microcosm structure

With moral foundations as the base

A kind of roof and walls housing a culture

Of warmth in the middle of its place

Let’s consider a family a boat that’s riding waves

Tackling small waves and tall ones

With a floating crew of sailors so brave

Comprised of parents, daughters and

By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)

In the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), Sri Krishna clearly explains, “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion–at that time I descend Myself.”

From all that we have learned in the previous chapters about the holy name of the Lord, we can understand that during this age of Kali-yuga it is the holy name, especially in the form of the Hare Krishna mantra, that is the present incarnati

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lord Krsna describes different yoga systems in the Bhagavad-gita,
but He clearly points to one as the best.

A lecture in Stockholm on September 10, 1973

sri-bhagavan uvaca
mayy asakta-manah partha
yogam yunjan mad-asrayah
asamsayam samagram mam
yatha jnasyasi tac chrnu

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: ‘Now hear, O son of Prtha [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in

By Yogendra dasa (BMS)

January 7, 2020

Maybe you are one of the millions of people who question whether education should be student-centered or teacher-centered. Perhaps, you have gone a step further, and are among the thousands who promote the idea that education should be knowledge-centered. If you are really rare, perhaps you sense that education is perfected when it becomes relationship-centered. Even if you find yourself among this particular crowd, to say you know the actual central purpo

By Dr. J. Chakrabarty, Florida State University

The concept of evolution of species, generally attributed to Charles Darwin, actually had its origin thousands of years ago in ancient India, and formed the basis of the illuminating philosophy of the Vedas. Since Darwin lived at a time when the profundity of the Indian wisdom already made an indelible impression on the minds of the western savants, it is hard to imagine how Darwin could possibly have escaped the compelling influence of the Indian

I learned how to offer at a young age. When I didn’t want to carry the freshly ironed clothes upstairs my mother would cheerfully say, “Offer it up!”. There was no choice about having to do it but she was suggesting where I put my mind in the process. She was teaching me to offer this small activity to God. Those three words stayed with me, and when I was later introduced to Krishna consciousness, the same concept from my childhood appeared to me in Krishna’s teachings.

What does it mean to off

When walking by the Christmas trees in Yorkville, Toronto, I was contemplating on how responsive people were in Cuba during our recent week-long visit. Their nods, smiles and, “Olas” are endearing, but I should not fail to neglect the many tourists from Quebec, Ontario and other designations, also showed receptiveness.

For instance, as our group at the resort in Varadero were waiting for our airport bus, a person by the name Vince came to us with the greatest curiosity. You wouldn’t think that

At its November 2, 2022 meeting, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of ISKCON resolved to again put a moratorium on women devotees accepting disciples in ISKCON. (The resolution can be found at the end of this article.)

The topic has been debated and discussed in various forums in ISKCON for twenty years and has evoked strong feelings (as well as lengthy papers and lists of oppositional sastric [scriptural] references) on all sides of the issue. In 2014, for example, the GBC held a special 3-d

I could swear I was in Vaikuntha (heaven). White sands, aqua-coloured water calm as anything, the sky boasted multiple blues to purples. The air was clean.

It was 7am when Ugresh, Urvi, Vallabha, Emile and I dove into the sublime liquid of ocean minerals. We were submerged, as were the school of fish milling around our legs. We were early.

Practically no one else was out. It’s understandable. There is entertainment at the resort and rum is freely given, so judging by the night excitement and no

Devotees often ask, “What was Prabhupada like?” I prefer to answer this question by relating what we personally experienced in our hearts in his presence, and how those feelings changed us, uplifted us and inspired us to fully give our youth to him. It is somewhat of challenge to relate how we felt in the presence of a pure devotee, but I hope to give you some glimpse of what it was like to be and serve Srila Prabhupada.

More than what he said, it was the unique experience of his darsana, and h

When we send our children to school obviously we hope that they will be taught the truth. Well, at least some of the time. It seems that painful truths may have to wait, such as the non-existence of Santa Claus. A teacher who recently made the grave error of informing children in her class that Father Christmas was not real found herself out of a job. Parents were furious. “My Joshua came home in tears,” said one anguished mother. “I didn’t know what to say.”

We want our children to be happy an

“Sharing that’s the heart of Christmas!” chimes Better Homes and Gardens. “To celebrate, people share traditions from gift-giving to party-going with family, friends, and acquaintances too. And food plays a special part in these yuletide activities. Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the aroma of the festive bird and baked goods wafting through the kitchen! … Once the sharing begins, and you’ve sampled our treats, you’ll realize that fellowship and food go hand in hand in making your

 “Now these Christmas holidays have begun in your country. Throughout the whole month of December you’ll observe nice festivities. Why? It began with God consciousness. Jesus Christ came to give you God consciousness, and in relation to him these festivities are going on. It may have degraded into another form, but the beginning was God consciousness. Now we may have lost it. But people cannot be happy without reviving God consciousness. It may be named differently—‘Krishna consciousness’—but th

I was pleasantly surprised to see a  recent article on ISKCON News: “Christmas Drama Has Audience Enthralled.” I understood immediately that the Bhaktivedanta Players wanted to bring the sacred elements from the East and the West together in their performance from the East The Bhagavad Gita,and A Christmas Carol from the West. I understood because these texts also hold a special connection for me.  I’ve offered performances based on them, playing the roles of  Arjuna and Ebenezer Scrooge respect

If I wrote an article telling you how to double your money in ten days, would you be interested? Of course you would. Well if I knew how I’d tell you. But I don’t, so sorry.

But I can tell you something better. I can tell you how to double your blessings in ten days. Are you as interested? I hope so. After all, the more blessings the merrier, right? So read on and learn how to have a doubly blessed Christmas and thus make Christmas really, really merry.

May you always think of Krsna.

By Mahatma

In the sixth episode of Vartalap, we were blessed with the opportunity to interview one of the very first disciples of Srila Prabhupada, HG Rukmini mataji. She has been practicing Krishna Consciousness for more than half a century and is an activist in women’s spiritual empowerment and interfaith dialogue. She leads workshops and retreats internationally.
We hope this episode will empower you in Bhakti and deepen your relation with Srila Prabhupada
Following is the list of questions that were a

By Mayesvara Dasa

In 1992 Locamangal prabhu performed the extraordinary Nandula play with Peter Konikow prabhu in my back yard for the devotee audience. Peter had applied all the blue makeup in LA before coming to Ojai and he said he caused a lot of head turning attention as he drove up the Ventura Highway with Lokamanga for the evening performance. It was an extra ordinary event that charmed everyone beyond belief. If you are not familiar with this extraordinary performance of this charming t

Srila Prabhupada speaks about the qualifications to see God, who is all around us.

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, lecture given on April 9, 1971, in Bombay

Although Krishna is invisible to ordinary persons, He tells us how we can become extraordinary and thus able to see Him always.

“Srimati Kunti said: O Krishna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You a

By Maharishi Das

My customer ( friend ) Rob drove four and a half hours from Devon to pick up a bespoke hand crafted amplifier. When he arrived HG Titiksu Prabhu was just leaving and greeted him as he walked by on his way out. Rob paused for a moment, then commented “All your friends seem special,” and when I asked why, he said, “They have a certain glow.”

I explained that Titiksu Prabhu has a certain glow as he has been selflessly serving God for many years. I mentioned to him that prior to co